Your experiences with traveling light?

Sony A7RII ZM25 2.8

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Busy Venice.... M10 50mm Summilux ASPH

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The kit I take for a place like Disney is the EM5 II, 12-32, the small 35-100, and a fast primes like the 17 and the 60 macro. It weighs very little, and I only carry parts of it around. The two small Panasonic zooms and the EM5 II are my typical walk around.

For a city, the X70 recently proved to be an excellent urban shooter in DC.
At least i’m consistent. This year I took the EM1 II, the 12-32, the 35-100, and the 20.
 
This year I'm taking the Leica M9 + Sony RX0, which is like giving the M9 a video upgrade when mounted to the hotshoe. I'm tossing up between the GX85 and LX10 as complementary cameras, or maybe the Ricoh GR or even the Sigma DP1 for fun. Video is important to me, so the Panasonics make sense, but they don't shoot like the GR or DP1.
 
The lightest kit I've traveled with is the E-M5 i with the 14-42 pancake lens, and and E-P2 for a back up body. In June, I plan on taking a D-lux 7 and, for telephoto reach outside, the capable Stylus 1s. My last several trips have been the Pen F with the 12-40 and the Stylus 1, but I need to travel exceptionally light in June. I'm looking forward to it. I think I could get used to something like the Pannie ZS100 and the D-Lux 7. That would give me what i needed without breaking the bank -- or may increasingly creaky back.
 
My new (used) Sony RX100M3. It's been on my belt loop as an Every Day Carry in a Sony case. No complaints so far.
I considered the Sonys, but I have used them and find them fiddly. Very nice cameras, but I don't enjoy using them. I will sacrifice a little there and there for something that gives me joy to use. Since the D lux 7 I ordered had pre-release firmware, I returned it and may well get the Leica typ 113. I loved my X1. No zoom, but that can be liberating. It is a little bigger than I was thinking, but I know I would use it.
 
I know I may be one of the few people to really like that camera, but I find the G1X III to be a really satisfying travel companion; it's small, competent and sturdy, and since I replaced the lens cap with a protective filter, it's actually quite quick to deploy as well. Yes, there are other, more versatile compacts, and of course, small systems (I own :mu43: as well as Leica M setups that fit that bill), but while they might cover more subject matters, they're also much bulkier and more complicated to use. And furthermore, the G1X III certainly delivers the goods as well ...

Yet, for photo travel, nothing beats a system - so that's what I take if it's at all possible. But the G1X III will still be in the bag as well - it's uniquely useful, and as a complete package, it beats my previous contenders, the GR, the LX100 and the FZ1000, in crucial ways: It has a zoom and an EVF; it's weather resistant; it's small, yet grippy and sturdier than even the GR; it also has a fully articulated screen (that is also touch enabled) and quick AF with very good tracking ... Of course, its lens isn't as good as the GR's and not as versatile as the FZ1000's (the reasons why I still own both cameras ...), and it doesn't feel quite as intuitive and pleasant in use as the LX100 for which I still have a soft spot, even though the G1X III has pretty much supplanted it. It beats those cameras *as well as* the systems because it packs so many useful features in such a small body.

M.
 
My travel setup these days is my Ricoh GR and my Sigma DP2M, I don't miss carrying around more stuff or switching lenses.

Funny, it's been almost 2 years and my preferred travel setup is still the same. I'm starting to consider if a phone could replace the GR, but I still don't see anything on the market that can replace the DP2M without being larger.
 
I think my favorite travel set up, from the different configurations I have tried with Fuji. Was a pair of X-Pro2's with 16mm and 56mm. I had the two bodies already for event work. So I took one and left it in the bag for backup.

Now that I have switched to the X-T2 for event work. When I travel this year I'm thinking of trying the 16/35/56 or 16/35/90 trio as a travel kit.
 
My ultimate travelling light tool - short of resorting to my iPhone - is the Canon G9X. So tiny it can fit unnoticed in the pocket of a suit or tuxedo. But featuring a solid, one-inch sensor, a 28-84mm zoom range and an f/2.0-4.9 aperture range.

Yes, some people point to flaws in the G9X's lens and they're certainly there in lab tests. But I have been quite pleased with the images I get in the real world. I personally shoot up to and including ISO 3200 without fear. YMMV. The G7X's lens is better and faster but it's a larger camera.

The Mark I version of the G9X could be sluggish when it came to RAW shooting. But the Mark II is much better. And the rear touchscreen control interface is quite good.

Just a suggestion for those still thinking about this subject.
 
I'll add to the revitalized thread.

I currently have three kits, all are smaller than what I had before getting into m4/3. Before all I had was Nikon FX event gear. My wife and I were headed out on a road trip and I REALLY didn't want to drag 5-10 pounds of gear. Since then I've had small m4/3 gear, advanced P&S like the LX100 (but I've never been able to get past the power zoom for one reason or another). The kits I have now:
  • X70 (use to also have the WCL)
  • X-E3 and a few lenses, but nothing longer than the 18-55
  • E-M1 mkII with zooms covering 16-600mm EQ and a couple of fast primes
Which of the kits I take really depends on where I'm going, what I expect to shoot, and what I'm willing to not take pictures of. I went to NYC some years back and at the time the longest lens I had was the Panasonic 14-140. Not really long enough for the zoo or the baseball game we went to. We went to Seattle and Portland, I only brought the X70 with the WCL. Other than the slower AF it did everything I needed.

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Reviving this thread, but I cannot find a more likely place to mull over kit for an upcoming trip. I'll be in Laos for 8 weeks that include an excursion south to a very interesting and important Khmer ruin, Wat Phu, a couple of weeks in Phonsavan, where I'm apt to go to a bull fight ( the bulls fight each other not a matador; the purpose is to get one bull to run away), and then 3 weeks in Luang Prabang where Lao New Year will take place April 14-16. The latter is a water festival, so I need a weather resistant kit. I just bought and Olympus 14-150 f4-5.6 II to use with the E-M5 for water resistance. I'll probably do most of my outdoor shooting with it. I'll have the Leica X113 and maybe the Ollie 45 f1.8 for a little reach for low light situations. That may be itj unless I throw in the Leica D-lux 109 instead of the 45 and x113. It will depend on how I can get my carry-on pack to weight less than 15 lbs, the limit EVA Airways sets for carry-on. Though I'll have a "personal item" to cheat a bit, I'll be carrying extra electronics as gifts. There will be architectural details at Wat Phu that I will want the reach of the 14-150 for, but I could see doing a lot of the shooting there with the 45mm and the Leica X, a 90 and a 35mm equivalent. The 14-150 doesn't do too badly. It's been too nasty out to go test well, but here are a series of shots I took the day it arrived:
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It should be alright as my standard lens for the trip. But I'm usually planning and changing my mind while I pack. I'd love to take the Sony a7ii and a bunch of manual focus lenses, but it would get too heavy, an if I didn't need weather sealing I'd take my favored Pen-F instead of the E-M5, which I got in 2012.
 
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Reviving this thread, but I cannot find a more likely place to mull over kit for an upcoming trip. I'll be in Laos for 8 weeks that include an excursion south to a very interesting and important Khmer ruin, Wat Phu, a couple of weeks in Phonsavan, where I'm apt to go to a bull fight ( the bulls fight each other not a matador; the purpose is to get one bull to run away), and then 3 weeks in Luang Prabang where Lao New Year will take place April 14-16. The latter is a water festival, so I need a weather resistant kit. I just bought and Olympus 14-150 f4-5.6 II to use with the E-M5 for water resistance. I'll probably do most of my outdoor shooting with it. I'll have the Leica X113 and maybe the Ollie 45 f1.8 for a little reach for low light situations. That may be itj unless I throw in the Leica D-lux 109 instead of the 45 and x113. It will depend on how I can get my carry-on pack to weight less than 15 lbs, the limit EVA Airways sets for carry-on. Though I'll have a "personal item" to cheat a bit, I'll be carrying extra electronics as gifts. There will be architectural details at Wat Phu that I will want the reach of the 14-150 for, but I could see doing a lot of the shooting there with the 45mm and the Leica X, a 90 and a 35mm equivalent. The 14-150 doesn't do too badly. It's been too nasty out to go test well, but here are a series of shots I took the day it arrived:
View attachment 359210View attachment 359211View attachment 359212View attachment 359213View attachment 359214View attachment 359215View attachment 359216

It should be alright as my standard lens for the trip. But I'm usually planning and changing my mind while I pack. I'd love to take the Sony a7ii and a bunch of manual focus lenses, but it would get too heavy, an if I didn't need weather sealing I'd take my favored Pen-F instead of the E-M5, which I got in 2012.
Sounds sensible to me, Larry.
 
Likewise, my wife and I have a spring time Camino Portugues starting from Porto planned this year which will likely have some rainy days, so the m5 with 14-150 II is my plan for most days. I’m taking an old Olympus 12-50 as backup for even rainier days. Both are good enough performers for me on this sort of trip, where photos are about bringing back memories.
 
@Lawrence A. An EM5 and 14-150 zoom is a super versatile and light travel camera. Add the Leica X113 and you've got a combination which will work for low light and a range of daytime shooting. On a trip to China in 2007, I used the Canon G7 compact as my primary and the long zoom range was a great boon. If something like the X113 had been available for low light work, it would have been the perfect combination.

As a follow up to the question I posed in 2019, I didn't go on that trip after all. Riots had broken out in Hong Kong and going there was really not advised. Then 2020 happened and no one went anywhere. But there may be another trip some time in the coming year, and I'm putting together gear lists again, but this time, with new gear.

Enter the Panasonic S5. Experience on the 2017 trip made me want a high quality autofocus camera with excellent video, and the S5 is exactly this camera. As my M9 kit consists of 21, 35 and 50, a S5 kit of Sigma 20/2, 35/2 and Panasonic 50/1.8 would cover everything the M9 does, but with AF and pro quality video. And the LX10 would serve as complementary/casual camera for when a larger camera is not appropriate. I just have to get over the emotional cache of taking the M9 on every trip, and get a couple more lenses for the S5. Slowly, slowly.
 
@TraamisVOS Since I got the M9 in 2010, I have taken it on almost every trip. It's been with me to Japan, Hong Kong, and numerous states around Australia. It's shot everything from family weddings and funerals, to elite level athletes for work, and I always love the process and output. The few times I've left the M9 at home, I've missed it and regretted the choice, but on rare occasions it has been necessary due to carry-on baggage limits. I've taken the S5 and G9 with me for a work trip and dearly missed the M9. Taking two cameras of similar size (M9 and S5) kind of goes against the desire to travel light, so if I were to take the S5 on an overseas trip with the intention of leaving the M9 at home, it gets tricky. I know I'll return with decent images but would always have the sense of wishing I had taken the M9 as well. I know I'm anthropomorphizing an inanimate object, but my M9 is a friend and companion as much as a camera. I might as well just suck it up and take the M9 and S5 on my next trip. :D
 
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